Quantbot Technologies LP Raises Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 155.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,901 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $4,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $127,945,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 763.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,332,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,270 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,146,000 after purchasing an additional 803,718 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.42.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $96.13 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.54. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $96.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.